ESX Server 30 Tips and Tricks

ESX Server 3.0 Tips and Tricks Mostafa Khalil, VCP VMware Product Support Engineering Agenda Storage Area Network VMFS-3 iSCSI Storage NFS Storage Area Network (SAN) Components Topology Identification SAN Components Initiators (host HBAs) QLogic 1/2/4Gb Emulex 1/2/4Gb See HCL for supportability Set HBA’s BIOS to “Point-to-Point” or similar to that Targets (Storage Processors’ Ports) Active/Active Arrays Active/Passive Arrays Check the HCL for supportability Fabrics (Switches and Fibre Connections) No specific listing on HCL 1/2/4Gb switches May need to set switch port to “Fx” or equivalent (e.g. F-Port) SAN Topology – Point-to-Point AKA Direct Connect Not supported Except CX100 Storage SP HBA Server SAN Topology – Absolute Minimum Switch allows additional connections of more storage or more servers No redundancy Many single points of failure Supported by VMware for ESX Server as a bare minimum configuration If the Storage Arrays are not listed on the hardware compatibility list (HCL), VMware only supports them with this simple configuration Storage SP FC Switch HBA Server SAN Topology – Arbitrated Loop Not Supported HBA Server Storage SP HBA Server SAN Topology – Multipath Fabric Storage SP SP FC Switch HBA HBA HBA HBA Server Server SAN Topology – Fully Redundant Fabrics Recommended Storage SP1 SP2 FC Switch FC Switch HBA HBA HBA HBA Server Server Identifying SAN Configuration VI Client Console Multipath Analysis Cannonical Name vmhbaC:T:L In this example Vmhba0:0:0 Policy: MRU or Fixed In this Example: MRU Path States: On Off Standby Dead Multipath Analysis - Identifying Targets SAN Type EMC Clariion Port ID SPA0 SPA1 SPA2 SPA3 SPB0 SPB1 SPB2 SPB3 WWN xx:xx:xx:60:xx:xx:xx:xx xx:xx:xx:61:xx:xx:xx:xx xx:xx:xx:62:xx:xx:xx:xx xx:xx:xx:63:xx:xx:xx:xx xx:xx:xx:68:xx:xx:xx:xx xx:xx:xx:69:xx:xx:xx:xx xx:xx:xx:6A:xx:xx:xx:xx xx:xx:xx:6B:xx:xx:xx:xx xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:x9 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:x8 xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xD xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xC 20:0X:00:00:00:00:xx 20:0Z:00:00:00:00:zz HP EVA SPA1 SPA2 SPB1 SPB2 For IBM FAStT: Compare X and Z: Higher number is the secondary processor. Compare xx and zz: Higher number is the higher number port. IBM FAStT N/A N/A VI Client – Multipath Analysis (Target Failover) Cannonical name not equal to active path Target Failover example Failover VI Client – Multipath Analysis (HBA Failover) Cannonical name not equal to active path -> Failover HBA Failover example Console – Multipath Analysis (Target Failover) esxcfg-mpath -l Console View of the target failover event Console – Multipath Analysis (HBA Failover) esxcfg-mpath -l Console View of the HBA failover event VMFS-3 Journaling Hierarchical Metadata LVM Snapshot handling VMotion with Storage Migration New Virtual Disk Types Journaling VMFS-3 is now a journal based file system Better recovery from crashes Online File System Check Hierarchical Structure VMFS-3 volumes support directory structure Virtual Machine files stored in the same directory Configuration file (VMX) VM Swap File Virtual Disks Logs Monitor dump VMFS-3 Metadata Copies of metadata stored at the root level of each volume Backup these files on a regular basis Run vm-support on a regular basis Collects Partition Table info LVM - VMware Logical Volume Manager Spanned VMFS volumes Volume still valid with missing extent(s) Snapshot LUN handling VMFS file system modules vmfs2 vmfs3 fsaux VMFS3 Volume UUID A volume UUID looks like this: 42263200-74382e04-b9bf-009c06010000 Also Known As “Signature” Created as a response to non-persistent vmhba names Volume names are supposed to be used instead of UUIDs Not to be confused with host UUIDs Snapshot LUN Handling Basic rules: A LUN shared by multiple hosts MUST be presented with the SAME LUN ID to all hosts A VMFS volume signature is associated with the LUN ID and the UUID among a few other elements (this may change at a later release) AX100 and IBM ESS (Shark) may not meet these rules. Symptoms Volume hidden Volume identified as a snapshot Snapshot LUN Handling Sample log entries Jul 18 10:58:31 ServerB vmkernel: 0:14:17:59.787 cpu13:1046)LVM: 5670: Device vmhba1:0:5:1 is a snapshot: Jul 18 10:58:31 ServerB vmkernel: 0:14:17:59.787 cpu13:1046)LVM: 5676: disk ID: Jul 18 10:58:31 ServerB vmkernel: 0:14:17:59.787 cpu13:1046)LVM: 5678: m/d disk ID: Jul 18 10:58:31 ServerB vmkernel: 0:14:17:59.790 cpu13:1046)LVM: 5670: Device vmhba1:0:6:1 is a snapshot: Jul 18 10:58:31 ServerB vmkernel: 0:14:17:59.790 cpu13:1046)LVM: 5676: disk ID: Jul 18 10:58:31 ServerB vmkernel: 0:14:17:59.790 cpu13:1046)LVM: 5678: m/d disk ID: Jul 18 10:58:31 ServerB vmkernel: 0:14:17:59.794 cpu13:1046)LVM: 5670: Device vmhba1:0:7:1 is a snapshot: Jul 18 10:58:31 ServerB vmkernel: 0:14:17:59.794 cpu13:1046)LVM: 5676: disk ID: Jul 18 10:58:31 ServerB vmkernel: 0:14:17:59.794 cpu13:1046)LVM: 5678: m/d disk ID: